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Topic: What did you learn this year? (Read 5333 times)

This year I learned how to work my hives without out gloves (will never go back to wearing them, unless I get a really hot hive.)

I learned how to help a queenless hive get queenright by giving it a frame or two (or three) of eggs.

I learned I should always keep a nuc on hand so when one of my hives goes queenless in late October i would have had a back up queen handy. (Will make a nuc as soon as I can next spring.)

I learned I don't need a queen excluder to keep her majesty out of the honey supers. One of my queens did lay a few eggs in a honey comb but I just put the frame down in the brood box and pulled a broodless frame up. (one of the nice things you can do when you use all the same size equipment.)

But I should have used a queen excluder below the bottom box when I hived a swarm in April so it wouldn't be gone the next morning. Will always use a queen excluder to keep the swarm queen in until I am sure she is settled in her new digs.

I learned just because I see two eggs in a cell it doesn't mean I have a laying worker--just a new queen who hasn't got her job down pat yet.

I let the girls draw out comb without foundation for the first time and it went well. Won't be using so much foundation in my supers from here on out.

I used an extractor for the first time this fall and found out it was not all that much better than the crush and strain technique I had used my previous seven harvests. Yeah, I didn't destroy my comb, but I think using an extractor was actually a bit more work for a hobbyist like me.

For the first time in my 10 years of beekeeping I didn't use any chemicals in any of my hives this year. I'll know how well that worked next spring!

I did a whole lot of reading about bees and hive biology this year but I am not sure the "girls" read the same books I do, so don't know if they will always behave the way the books say they should. But most of all I hope the girls actually benefit from what I read in the books.

I learned about Michael Bush's technique of "splitting by the box" where he deals out the 8-frame medium boxes into two stacks so he does not have to open the boxes to get an even distribution of resources. I don't use his method because I have only long hives, but it made the top of my list of new things learned because I was REALLY impressed with how clever this is. If I were a Langstroth beek, I would be splitting by the box. :-D

I learned how to utilize a "basement" to give foragers extra room at night, also as a swarm prevention.

I learned that you should continue placing larvae in a hive while you wait for a new queen to hatch and get mated. Because, if you have laying workers kick in at the same time a newly mated queen starts laying, the newly mated queen will LOSE.

My biggee, though, was learning that getting stung next to the carotid artery is SO NOT FUN!

I learned how to make spun honey by using a cheap wine cooler to keep it at 58 degrees. The time it takes varies on the type of honey.

I learned I don't like the flavor of dandelion honey and will leave it on for winter feed from now.

I learned a weak hive in the spring will make the most honey by the fall. A strong hive coming off the dandelion flow in the spring will swarm so I plan on splitting it.

I learned cloudy rainy weather in the spring makes it very difficult to get a queen mated.

I learned the easiest way to insulate a hive for winter is use 2 inch foam insulation and screw it into the sides of the hive with 2.5 inch screws.

I learned four hives aren't enough if three have swarmed and you need frames of eggs for requeening all three hives.

I learned I'm terrible at graftin. Next year I will just cut out a quarter size area of brood and secure it to a frame instead of taking a whole frame of eggs out of a hive.

Alicia your sting was probably close to the external jugular vein which you can see under the skin on the neck. The carotid artery and internal jugular vein are pretty deep and covered by muscle. Trust me I'm a surgeon!

I learned how to do a trap out. Thanks Iddee. Just need to learn how to finish it now.I learned that not wearing a bee suit teaches you to be more gentle with your bees.I learned that you don't really need a bee suit unless you have angry bees.I learned that getting stung on the eye because you weren't wearing a bee suit hurts a bit.And finally I learned that skipping the basics and jumping into the deep end doesn't work for long :(

I learned how to hive a swarm, cage the queen and then release her.I learned how to scoop bearding bees with my bare hands.I learned how to do a cut out and attache comb to framesI learned the basics of a trap out (but haven't tried one yet.)I learned (theoretically) how to graft an egg. and the concepts of queen rearingI learned that Iddee makes some darn good moonshine.I learned that Bailey makes some likewise good mead.I learned how (not) to do a walk away split and how to (it worked in the end!)I learned what foul-brood looks like I learned that giving a talk to third graders about bees is fun and frighteningI learned that I do know a bit about beekeepingI learned that that is a very very small bit. :D

Wow! I learned so much! Most of it due to Bud's awesome get together and Iddee, my fabulous long distance mentor, and JP and Hardwood and Schawee and KathyP and Frameshift and Michael Bush and everybody else on this WONDERFUL forum!

Alicia your sting was probably close to the external jugular vein which you can see under the skin on the neck. The carotid artery and internal jugular vein are pretty deep and covered by muscle. Trust me I'm a surgeon!

And I learned that there is a difference between the external jugular vein and the carotid artery (thanks, Badger!) :)

One of the hives I opened yesterday objected immediately to my intrusion. So...I have also now learned that "dripping" with OA is preferable to "shooting" it at the bees. It just makes them object even more! :-P a.k.a., keep your cool!